I was reading Inc. magazine the other day and came across some of the best ideas for a business now. One was for a cupcake shop. The premise being that in a down economy we may put the big purchases on hold, but we're quite happy to treat ourselves to a fancy cupcake. The absolute other side to this are all the discussions being held about "The latte factor", that those little purchases add up and are what is putting us in debt. You've heard the story, give up your $4 morning chocolaty coffee drink and in 40 years you'll have $810,764 or something like that. I've lived for many years like Scrooge, seeing myself in Silas Marner--forgoing the latte, the cupcake, and a good many other things. Undoubtedly it did build my savings account, and I was good at it, but anything taken to an extreme like a diet can lead to anorexia. How to know when to stop. Living that way can lead to a feeling of scarcity, that if I don't save this dollar another one may never come my way. Better that I learn to make a few extra dollars here and there and have my little luxuries. It's hard to believe that the pretty roses in the first picture are actually soaps. I came across them in the etsy shop Satin & Birch http://www.etsy.com/shop/SatinandBirch They're raspberry roses with a splash of lemon. I saw them and lusted after them for days. I just ordered and I'm awaiting their arrival. I will update when I get them in. (They arrived and are sitting on a rectangular Japanese plate and sweetly scenting my bathroom, really lovel soap.) You get a set of 4 and I'm keeping 2 and giving 2 to a friend. One of those little luxuries.The remarkably frilly tutu is from the etsy shop of Tiaras Tutus http://www.etsy.com/shop/tiarastutus
It's a little indulgence for my granddaughter. It's still being made and I can't wait to see it. I have no idea what possible use it's going to have. Maybe a photography session, maybe Halloween, maybe just for dress up. A play-pretty with no other purpose than being pretty. Life is just so much more delicious with little treats. We need clothing to wear, but don't need tutus. We need food to eat, but no one needs a cupcake. We need soap to wash with but it's not necessary that it's shaped into roses and scented. But, rather than worrying that today's little splurge will lead me into poverty in later years I should view it a challenge and an ambition. How to make the extra money to give myself this feeling of being unabashedly wealthy. Taken this way my treats aren't "guilty pleasures", they're spurring me to ambition and action.
